Anthony Darious Toussant (October 28, 1945-May 22, 2006,) was a singer, dancer, guitarist & a songwriter who was in The Uplifters, dubbed as The King of Soul & The Ant Man. He began his solo career while still in The Uplifters in 1972.
Biography[]
Anthony was born in Shreveport Louisiana to Michael Antonio Toussaint a sergeant in the U.S Army and Lisa Renee Jackson who was a housewife. Anthony had two older siblings. His dad suffered from PTSD after WWII and in 1948 the family moved to Galveston Texas where Anthony spend most of his childhood. While in Galveston in 1950 he stopped by a music store with his mom and saw a Fender Stratocaster and after begging his mom he bought the guitar for $200. Anthony soon became obsessed with his guitar and began singing and writing songs. He didnt think he could make a career out of music until 1956 when his sister Patsy and her friends all drove to Houston with Anthony to see Elvis Presley. Anthony was immediately blown away and bought all his records. Other artist he liked were Ritchie Valens, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. In 1960 he moved yet again to Albuquerque New Mexico where he would attend Albuquerque Academy. He met Paul Brown and Tony Antonio and the three of them would form The Builders and mainly played parties and clubs across Albuquerque. They would disband in 1962 In 1963 Anthony along with his friends Freddie Vincent, Bob Johnson, Keith Thomas, Dylan Scott and Marlon White (cousin of Ricky Vandella) formed the Rock band The Dynamic Five. While at a party in 1967 Anthony would meet Ricky Vandella the two would remain close friends and Anthony was offered a chance to join The Uplifters but turned it down to focus on The Dynamic Five who were gaining fame around this time, he later joined the band in 1971 asking former Dynamic Five bandmate Freddie Vincent to join the band as well.
The Uplifters[]
In 1971 the original lineup of The Uplifters disbanded, and Ricky Vandella immediately replaced them calling Anthony to see if he would like the job. Anthony having completed college the year prior agreed. The first album he appears on is Red Bull. Anthony played guitar on all the bands album making him the only band member to play on the albums he didn't play guitar onstage until 1975, however he did ocasionally play drums on live verisons of Papa Was A Rolling Stone and I heard it through the grapevineAnthony was the best man at Vandella and Jermiah Eastons wedding in Houston in 1972. He wrote a few songs in 1974-1975 for the band and also produced the bands final album. The band would disband in 1986 and Anthony would join Jermiah Easton and Freddie Vincent for a reunion tour in 1990 for the bands 10 year Anniversary. Anthony held a grudge against Ricky Vandella for a while after the band broke up but the two reconvened and ended up going on the two idols tour in 1998.
In 1998 he reunited with Ricky Vandella to perform a world tour. It was called the Two idols tour.
In May 2000, He also reunited with all four members for a North American Tour. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the same year.
In 2000 the surviving members of The Dynamic Five reunited for an appearance at The Newport Folk Festival in Newport Rhode Island.
Solo Carrer[]
In 1972 Anthony had been recording a solo album secretly and while the band were in New York, Anthony appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson to announce his self-titled debut solo album he said ''Well both Ricky and Jermiah have released solo albums, so I feel it's my turn.'' His debut single released a few months after the interview on September 8th, 1972. His debut album came out 2 months later on November 11th 1972 He released a second studio album named Black Cat in 1974 and went on his first solo tour in 1975. After The Uplifters broke up Anthony was finding little success with his solo albums and in 1988, he took a break from music to focus on acting. In 1995 he released Anthony II his first solo album in 6 years it reached #1 on the Bilboard charts and brought him some sucess that same year he embarked on his 5th solo tour which saw him play North America, Europe and Asia. His son Ricky Toussaint would produce all his albums in 2001 he released a book called ''In My Life'' which talked about his childhood and his time with The Uplifters. In 2005 he was diagnosed with Lung Cancer and began a farewell tour that same year. He had to cancel a bunch of shows in Asia in 2006 due to his sickness. In 2006 he released his last studio album ''My Life'' he would die only 2 months after its release.
Personal Life[]
In 1972 while The Uplifters were on tour during a show at Madison Square Garden, Anthony would meet a member of the New York Mafia named Tamika Jones the two began dating and on July 2nd after only 3 months of dating the two got married in Las Vegas. 3 years later the two divorced after both being unhappy with their marriages and cheating. On September 22nd, 1975, he married actress Rebecca Donaldson the two had two kids together Ricky Toussaint (named after Ricky Vandella) who was born on December 8th, 1978, and Emma Toussaint born on January 22nd, 1982. The family would move to Vancouver, Washington. He was an advocate for ending Gun Violence and performed multiple benefit concerts to raise money for victims of gun violence. He was also an advocate for Artists Rights.
Death[]
In January of 2005 Anthony began experiencing signs of Lung Cancer and after visiting a hospital found he had lung cancer and that he had only a year to live. Anthony died a year later on May 22nd, 2006, surrounded by family. The Uplifters management who was also managing Toussaint at the time said in a statement ''We are saddened to announce the death of Anthony Toussaint. Anthony was a legend who loved his fans very much. Anthony spent his last days doing what he thought was important, entertaining the fans We all loved Anthony dearly and he will be missed.'' Anthony was the first member of the Red Bull lineup of The Uplifters to die. Anthony played his last public show on March 5th, 2006, in Auckland New Zealand
Discography[]
- Anthony Toussaint (1972)
- True Love (1974)
- Black Cat (1976)
- Live 87' (1987)
- Anthony II (1995)
- Live in L.A (1996)
- Can't Get Next to You (2000)
- What A Night (2002)
- Deck Of Cards (2004)
- My Life (2006)
- The Greatest Hits 1972-2006 (2012)
Tours[]
- Anthony Live! (1975)
- 1987 World Tour (1987)
- Anthony II World Tour (1995-1996)
- The Two Idols World Tour (1998)
- 2001 World Tour (2001)
- 2002 North American Tour (2002)
- Deck Of Cards World Tour (2004)
- The End of the Line Tour (2006)
Trivia[]
- Anthony has an unreleased solo album named Karma which was supposed to come out in 2007.
- Anthony starred in 11 movies in the 6 years he took off from music.
- Anthony had 11 grammies 6 from The Uplifters and 5 from his solo carrer